Tag Archives: You are all going to die

Perhaps you are suffering from one of these ailments. I came across this very helpful list on Geri Walton’s blog, History of the 18th and 19th Centuries, and she has kindly allowed me to repost it here. It seems that modern medicine is not quite as abysmal as it once was, but I will say this: physicians from centuries ago had a much more creative flair when it came to naming maladies.

I
Icterus = Jaundice
Idem with Tubercle = Meningitis
Idiotismus = Idiocy
Iliac Passion (blockage of the small and/or large intestine) = Ileus
Indigestion = Dyspepsia
Infantile Paralysis = Polio
Inflammation of the air tubes = Bronchitis
Inflammation of the ear = Otitis
Inflammation of the eye = Opthalmia
Inflammation of the internal membrane of the bowels = Enteritis
Inflammation of the internal membrane of the heart = Endocarditis
Inflammation of the internal membrane of the stomach = Gastritis
Inflammation of the joints = Arthritis
Inflammation of the larynx = Laryngitis
Inflammation of the liver = Hepatitis
Inflammation of the lungs = Pneumonia
Inflammation of the mucous membrane = Catarrh
Inflammation of the pericardium = Pericarditis
Inflammation of the periosteum = Periostitis
Inflammation of the testis = Orchitis
Inflammation of the pleura = Pleuritis
Inflammation of the spinal marrow = Myelitis
Inflammation of the veins = Phlebitis
Introversion of the bowels = Intussusception
Irtis = Opthalmia
Ischuria Urethralis = Stricture of the urethra or stoppage of the urine

Harristorian Tees – historically inspired tee-shirts

Across the Bloody Chasm – Now Available!!!

Praise for Across the Bloody Chasm

“One of Harris’s chief contributions is his recovery of lost ambiguities, intentions, and memories, which fairly quickly were obscured by national self-interest and the ignorance of Americans who did not fight or who were born after the war.” - American Historical Review

“Harris makes a persuasive case that in the battle for Civil War memory neither Union nor Confederate veterans were willing to concede much to their former enemies. . . . Across the Bloody Chasm makes a worthwhile addition to growing literature on historical memory of the American Civil War by demonstrating the limits of postwar reconciliation among veterans.” - Journal of American History

''Well written and accompanied by 84 pages of notes, a bibliography, and an index, the study . . . stands as a major contribution to a discourse still central to the polity of the US. Highly recommended.'' - Choice

“[An] uncommonly well written and concise book. . . . M. Keith Harris is to be commended for clarifying why the process of national reconciliation took much longer than we have previously recognized and the role that Civil War veterans played in it.” - Civil War Book Review

“Harris . . . makes extensive use of regimental histories as he believes they document the true views of the veterans. He also makes good use of the speeches and commemorative programs published during veterans’ gatherings over the decades after the war. . . . Harris’s treatment of the various issues and themes is a useful reminder of what our veterans, and our country, went through in the years after the Civil War as every American, but especially veterans, tried to digest the importance of the bloody conflict the country had endured and the role each of them had played in it.” - On Point